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Published: March 2nd 2006
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Cambodia is an amazing country.
Its suffered so much in recent years and the people still have smiles on their faces, and are genuinely happy to see foreigners. They just seem to be grateful to have a bit of peace and stability in their lives.
We never knew that Cambodia was once an enourmous empire with lands stretching from Vietnam, accross Thailand to Burma. It was a very proud and prosperous kingdom, and even after French colonialism ended there, it was a successful independent country, until it got embroiled in the Vietnam war and its stability was wrecked. The takeover of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s killed 2 million Cambodians in 5 years, and guerilla fighting against the remaining Khmer Rouge soldiers continued until 1998 when their leader Pol Pot died. I had no idea that the troubles there were so recent and that landmines were still being planted in strategic areas untill about 8 years ago.
We stayed in the now growing town of Siem Reap. In the parts of Cambodia we saw on the way from Thailand, the poverty is pretty shocking, and the contrast with the relatively prosperous Thailand is huge. But in the
Which is holding which up?
Recognise this from Tomb Raider??? tourist town of Siem Reap huge hotels are going up, and people are now able to afford proper houses and they have built a new hospital. I just hope with the growth in tourism, it doesnt lose its character, as its a lovely little town with genuine, friendly people.
The road from Thailiand to Cambodia is possible the worst in the world. It doesnt exist on some places and youre driving across dirt tracks. Where it does exist its littered with potholes and huge rocks. Out bus broke down twice and we had to stop twice for bridges that had fallen down, and had to be driven around through rice fields! The road could be fixed, but Cambodia is so corrupt that the airlines actually pay the government not to fix the roads so more people fly in and out of the country. The roads were so bad in fact that a journey of 90 miles took us 12 hours.
Anyhow - we got there - hot and dusty though we were! The next day we were up at 5am to visit the famous temples of Angkor. It was very eerie wondering about the temple complex in the
Happy Temple
Smiley Buddha/Hindu thing dark before the sun came up. And the sunrise was beautiful emerging from among the towers and statues of the temples. We then spent a long, hot day (seriously, 40 degrees in February is just wrong!) touring the best of the hundreds of temples in the area, which was an ancient city abandoned in the 13th century and lost in the jungle until it was discovered by French colonialists. Some of the temples were still overgrown with trees alll over.
The next day after chilling in a butterfly garden and having a bargainous massage, we visited perhaps the most moving place on out trip so far, after the Death Railway. A local man in Siem Reap has opened a small landmine museum at his home, showing all the different types of mines, what they do, and why they were used. He works as a landmine clearer and is an expert in clearing mines - which there are still an estimated 6 million of in Cambodia, especially around the borders.
One person is still killed everyday by landmines in Cambodia, and Mr Akira works in these areas, often for free, sometimes clearing hundreds of mines on one day, with
Angkor Wat
Its huge and really impressive. Hard to believe it was built in the 11th Century. no support from the Cambodian government or charities and with no protection or equipment. It costs the UN $500 for every mine they clear - it costs Mr Akira $3.
He also has the advantage, that having been drafted into the Khmer Rouge army as a child he was often made to plant mines, and so he knows where many of them are!
This amazing man and his family have also started an orphanage in their own home for children who have been victims of landmines and abandoned or whose families just cannot afford to help them. He gives these children a home and sends them to school and gives them a future. And they were the happiest brightest kids, they were all keen to practice their English and wanted to play football. It was lovely to see, but these kids are just the lucky few. There must be hundreds more like them.
We only spent a few days in Cambodia but it really touched us. Definatley a place to be seen before globalisation and tourism takes over. So good to be in a town with no Mcdonalds or Starbucks for once.
Now its back to Thailand,
love
Rozi and Steve
xxx
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